Japan's Woes – Fukushima, China , Debt And Seniors

For the coming week, I’m going to be writing / providing considerable information on some of the very troubling developments taking place in Japan. As you already know, I watch Japan very closely ( much more so than the U.S) and am “compelled” to share with you some of the things I’ve recently come to understand.

1. Fukushima

With over 300 tonnes of contaminated radio-active water flooding back into the pacific ocean “daily” for the past 2 FULL YEARS – the nuclear disaster in Japan is the absolute #1 largest threat to humanity I will have seen ( and likely yourselves ) in our lifetimes. The current situation is so dire, that Abe and the Japanese government have now passed a “new bill” granting Japan’s govt sweeping powers to declare state secrets where in whistleblowers and journalist may face up to ten years in jail for exposing anything the Japanese government declares “a special secret.”

If you can imagine how frail the situation is – if a single “spent fuel rod assembly ” of the 1000’s hanging precariously in reactor 4 where to break in open air – 30 million citizens of Tokyo may face evacuation, crippling the world’s third largest economic centre, paving the way for complete global economic disaster.

As little coverage as the story is getting in the West, the threat at Fukushima is very, very real and will take many, many years to even “contain” – let alone repair. All the while…the contamination continues with estimates of impacting the entire Pacific Ocean over the next 5 years.

Given the “passing” of this new bill, I fear it’s unlikely we will really “ever” get the information needed to properly evaluate the situation at Fukushima, as it’s obvious the Japanese don’t want to speak of it. Tourism, exports, health care, government reputation etc…take your pick – the lasting effects on Japan ( and it’s economy ) will be felt for many years to come.

Throughout the week I want to also touch on China’s recent military actions concerning Japan, as well the country’s “mushroom cloud” of debt and rapidly aging population.

This new “gag” bill is an attempt to prevent panic and mess up the status quo. They’re quite happy (as is the US) for stocks to carry on rising and their currency value to drop. Anything that jeopardises that is not in their interests and now illegal by the looks of it. Wouldn’t have been surprised if China had behaved like this but for “democratic” Japan to do so I’m shocked. With credibility issues already raising eyebrows this has done nothing to help that.

Yes it’s untimely no question as…..”real coverage” would sure put a “dint” in the current “global enthusiasm for stocks”.

I can honestly say, I’m truly saddened by this – as for the first time in as long as I can remember “I personally” am directly affected by something so huge , with such massive implications that I’m forced to take it into consideration on a larger scale than I’d care to.

Understanding that the process of removing the “1000’s of fuel rod assembly’s” MANUALLY as opposed to the computerized “robotic system” that once did the job has it difficult for me to believe it can be achieved without inccident. The process has to be repeated “1000’s” of times absolutely perfectly. Estimates are it may take up to 40 years! Not to mention the liklihood of earthquake being 95% over the next 3.

Looking at it from all angles, it seems likely that things will get a whole lot worse before even “close” to getting better.

Ya the situation in Japan is incredibly scary. There is already so much damage showing up in the Pacific. As someone that grew up on the Pacific and spent tons of time in her waters it frankly pisses me off. More needs to be done in terms of Japan opening up and admitting the reality of the problem and seeking some international help. But no they are too proud to do so.

I’m super choked about it. Totally bummed as ya…..the cat is “waaay outta the bag” now, and it looks like the “powers that be” will look to sweep this one under the carpet for as long as they can as well.

The Pacific man! I love that Ocean! Any everything in it!

I can’t believe its not a “major international co operative” with every single resource available thrown at it 24 /7, as it warrants it no question. And I ask a couple of friends and family there in Canada – haven’t heard a thing.

No shit Kong I agree. It doesn’t get much bigger and more beautiful than the Pacific. Not to mention it’s impact environmentally. …hard to even comprehend. Ya the ignorance level is insane! My parents own a place in Maui and they don’t know a bloody thing about it! Hardly anybody does. I think David Suzuki is changing that but it’s probably too little to late. Sad sad shit

You and I both. I am a nature fanatic, and am near heart broken considering that “no matter what anyone says” things will never be the same, and are likely gonna get much worse.

I have family that work in the environmental field, and assumed they’d be “well in the know” as this can/will affect future generations / all wildlife and certainly anything “West Coast Canada” environmentally speaking.

Haha no shit hey. The struggle with this issue for me is how to help. I can’t grow a mustache or give money and I don’t know how to clean up nuke waste. So I guess what a guy does is just ‘advertises’ this mess as much as possible and hopes that enough pressure builds. If anybody has anything to say about this I’m very happy to hear it.

Interesting article on Bloomberg from 3 days ago regarding Fukushima pollutants reaching US shores in early 2014. It claims they’ll be safe. The comments after the article from people who live there suggest that’s “bollocks!” I know who I’ll believe – the people who are watching debris roll in right now or the media.

Its amazing – I’ll have been warned “a countless number of times” of the potencial “mercury in sushi” as if its a “given” (as fish higher on up the food chain accumulate these elements from many “smaller fish” ) but ask a person in Canada if there’s potencial radio activity coming from Japan’s ( same ocean, same fish , same everything ) no “the world’s” largest nuclear disaster on record and you’re a nut case / conspiracy theorist / fear monger.

Maybe when the next generation’s children are consistantly born with additional apendages – someone will take note.

What people fail to understand is that the “current situation” no…scratch that (as it’s been 2 full years of 300 tons per day of contaminated waste pouring into the ocean)..the currenct situation ISN’T THE REAL PROBLEM.

The mountain of storage tanks ( now being created quickly and inexpensively ) is piling up to the extent that “they can’t store it fast enough” let alone get rid of it……this “coupled” with the impossible task of removing the 1000’s of fuel rods WITHOUT INCCIDENT (a task NEVER ATTEMPTED IN THE HISTORY OF MAN) and looming threat of additional damage / earthquakes has THE FUTURE SCENARIO FAR MORE THREATENING.

If an earthquake takes Reactor 4 out as a whole ( if that building collapses etc…) it will cease to be Japan’s problem as……we’ll all have horns and flippers growing out of our backs.

THERE IS NO CONTAINMENT METHOD / PROCEDURE KNOWN – TO CONTERACT A BREACH OF THIS MAGNITUDE.

All resting on a group of inexperienced workers, a building that has already had the roof torn off, and a large portion of the actual reactor melt directly through the concrete bottom, now in direct contact with the water table.

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